Digital dot matrix printers such as ink jet printers are used in a wide variety of applications other than printing documents, posters, and the like onto standard rectangular print media. In many cases, the desired end product will not be rectangular. For instance, printed adhesive backed vinyl alphanumeric characters, logos, etc. for signs or other commercial displays may have a variety of shapes. Garment production also requires a variety of shapes of printed fabric pieces to be created.
Generally, when such unusual or custom shapes are desired, a rectangular sheet or roll of media is printed with the desired color or pattern. This media may be paper, paper backed vinyl, textile, or other material. Following the printing process, the material is placed onto a separate cutter for cutting the desired shapes out of the printed media. This type of cutting machine is basically a plotter with a knife substituted for a pen. A carriage moves the knife in one dimension while a media handling mechanism moves the media in the other dimension. Some devices move the knife in two dimensions and hold the media stationary.
These techniques require two separate operations on different devices. In addition, care must be taken in many instances to ensure that the cutting is in proper registration with the previously performed printing. Although a laser plotter which includes a laser cutting system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,650,076 to Ben-David, this device is only operative to cut registration holes in the sides of the media for subsequent printing operations. Furthermore, printing and cutting are performed sequentially, which still requires additional time.
More effective methods and systems to perform both printing and cutting operations are therefore needed in the art.
Some preferred embodiments of the present invention comprise printing and cutting methods and apparatus which reduce the time and labor required to produce pieces of printed media of pre-defined shape. These embodiments of the invention have especially advantageous application to the fields of sign making and garment prototyping. To enhance the efficiency of such processes, in one embodiment, the invention comprises a method of producing a printed product having a predefined boundary comprising cutting along the boundary during the process of depositing ink within or outside the boundary.
A rasterized laser may be used to perform this cutting. This embodiment is advantageous in combination with rasterized printing because common digital control may be used for both printing and cutting. In some embodiments of the invention, the laser may be used for purposes other than cutting. Thus, in another embodiment of the invention, a method of producing a printed piece of media comprises ejecting a droplet of ink onto a first pixel location on the media; and at substantially the same time, illuminating a second pixel location on the media with laser light. The laser illumination may be used for a wide variety of purposes. For example, the illumination intensity may be selected so as to form holes in the media, or alternatively to etch the media surface without forming holes. In other embodiments of the invention, the intensity may be selected to sublimate dyes or enhance the drying of ink previously deposited on the media.
Embodiments of the invention further include ink jet printers. In one embodiment, such an ink jet printer includes a printing surface, one or more print heads, a laser light source; and a digital controller coupled to the print head and to the laser light source. Under the control of the controller, both colorant and illumination from the laser light source are provided to one or more programmably selected raster locations on the printing surface.